The Modest Triumph of the Cultural Mosaic

[bibliogramma]

Unlikely Utopia: The Surprising Triumph of Canadian Pluralism, Michael Adams

In the interests of full disclosure, I must begin my comments with the observation that this book was written by my boss. It's his fifth book, and like his previous ones, it is based on research that the company he founded, Environics Research Group, has conducted into social values going back decades in Canada and the U.S. Each year in Canada, and every four years in the U.S, we poll a representative sample of peple to determine their values about all sorts of social issues. We have reseach partners in other countries who do the same kind of reseach in other countries around the world, and we all share this informaition, building up a database of global trends in social values and attitudes.

I'm not going to talk about the research in detail, because it is proprietary, but we track how much people agree or disagree with statements like "The father should be the master in the home" - one of the questions that Adams likes to use in his public speaking engagements and see how the percentages who agree or disagree change over time.

This particular book analyses some of that research, and some other research we have done over the years tracking issues associated with immigration, multi-culturalism, and a major study done earlier this year with two samples - one of Canadians in general and one of Canadian Muslims.

I think I'll leave the summary of this research up to the author himself. Here's an excerpt from the book that was printed earlier this fall in The Toronto Star, and the short version is that the research shows that, despite all the headlines about immigrant backlash and accommodation crises, we're not doing all that badly at this learning to live with each other despire our differences thing, and the odds are that we'll continue to manage to muddle along in our modest Canadian way. And that we will find every way possible to politely brag about it.

Comments

Part Two of My Response

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

What is interesting is that Canada's migration program runs independently of its economic situation. Which helps explain the high levels of unemployment among migrants in Canada (more than twice that of Australia).

I won’t deny we have problems in this area – but it is considered a major problem and there are task forces looking at the issues from all perspectives trying to change the situation. One of the biggest problems is actually certification of skills. Canada’s immigration policy is based on a point system (with the exception of immigrants under the family reunification program and refugees) which gives preference to highly skilled people .. but then once they arrive, their professional credentials and experience outside Canada are not always recognised by professional organisations or employers. We know it’s a huge problem and we are actually working on it.

Is Canada's policy that newcomers should "become Canadian"? Or is it multiculturalism, in which the values of their country of origin are retained?

It’s multiculturalism. Has been officially so since the late 60s, and at times we’ve even had government-funded programs designed to encourage new Canadians to celebrate their culture of origin as the at the same time become part of Canadian society.

The report clearly shows that Canadians are uncertain on this score. Perhaps the surveys have figures on how many Canadians actually understand the country's immigration policy.

Actually, I think there is a strong basic understanding of multiculturalism and the need for immigration. A 2004 survey conducted by Carleton University (in Canada) in 13 developed countries found that among Canadians, only 32% want immigration to decrease and 29% want it to increase. Australian has similar opinions – 39% wanted a decrease and 23% wanted an increase. In all other countries surveyed (including US, several European countries and NZ, more than half wanted to see a decrease and 11% or fewer wanted an increase (with the exception of NZ, at 15%). (You can find this and other data on Canadian attitudes toward immigration, positive and negative in a ppt presentation that can be downloaded here. (canada.metropolis.net/events/Vancouver_2006/Presentation/WS-032406-1530-Jedwab.ppt)

Both our own polling and studies released by other firms consistently show that Canadians think immigration is good for the economy (although a significant minority do worry about immigrants taking jobs away from native-born Canadians), that that multiculturalism is considered to be a positive aspect of Canadian society, that it is good for Canada to have people from a variety of religions and cultures, that it is not better if all Canadians share the same customs and traditions, etc. At the same time, Canadians do also want to see immigrants integrated into Canadian society – but I’m not sure that that means we want, as a nation, to see massive assimilation.

What is going on now, in my opinion, is that Canadians are engaged in a dabate over how to find the right balance between multi-culturalism and integration. We want to find a way for Canadians to be able to express and celebrate their heritage and history within an overall framework of modern social values and human rights, and tolerance on all sides. As an example, Canadians are saying that multi-culturalism and religious freedom cannot trump women’s rights – and this is an explosive issue just now, as there have been several highly publicised cases in recent years of what appear to be “honor killings” of women who have chosen to reject the religious or cultural values of their families with regard to behaviour and dress.